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Gold held a deep symbolic meaning for the pre-Hispanic cultures of present-day Colombia. Its color and brilliance made it analogous with the Sun and a powerful symbol of fertility. Its physical and chemical properties allowed for the creation of different textures and a variety of color tones that became part of the political and ritual functions of the objects produced. They manufactured simple objects used by ordinary members of the community, such as nose rings, earrings, breastplates, pendants and tools, as well as complex showy objects including body adornments, emblems of rank and power, and votive figures reserved for important figures such as governors, shaman and venerable elders. This richly illustrated volume traces the legacy of gold in pre-Hispanic Colombia in over 250 exceptional gold objects, supplemented by maps, diagrams, and illustrations that put in context the pieces that make up this extraordinary collection from the Gold Museum of Bogotà. The exceptional photographs are accompanied by brief descriptions of the cultures that created the objects, their customs, the territories they occupied, the techniques used and the symbolic value assigned to the different pieces.
This encyclopedia provides detailed information about the historical, cultural, social, religious, economic, and scientific significance of gold, across the globe and throughout history. Gold has been an intrinsic part of human culture and society throughout the world, both in ancient times and in the modern era. This precious metal has also played a central role in economics and politics throughout history. In fact, the value of gold remains a topic of debate amid the current upheavals of economic conditions and attendant reevaluations of modern financial principles. Gold: A Cultural Encyclopedia consists of more than 130 entries that encompass every aspect of gold, ranging from the ancient metallurgical arts to contemporary economies. The connections between these interdisciplinary subjects are explored and analyzed to highlight the many ways humankind's fascination with gold reflects historical, cultural, economic, and geographic developments. While the majority of the works related to gold focus on economic theory, this text goes beyond that to take a more sociocultural approach to the subject.
In ancient Colombia, people did not use gold as currency or desire it for its economic value. Gold was revered instead for its symbolic association and transformative properties. This sacred metal was used to create some of the most visually dramatic and technically sophisticated works of art found anywhere in the Americas before European contact. Drawing on the spectacular collections of the Museum del Oro in Bogota and the British Museum, this beautiful book features over 100 masterpieces fashioned exquisitely in gold and its alloy tumbaga, including small votive figures, decorative nose rings and earrings, vessels, pectorals and masks. These are presented alongside an array of other highly valued objects textiles, ceramic figurines, shells, colourful stone beads which also played a significant part in daily and ritual contexts. -- Publisher's blurb.
A captivating new book from Wade Davis--award-winning, best-selling author and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence for more than a decade--that brings vividly to life the story of the great Río Magdalena, illuminating Colombia's complex past, present, and future Travelers often become enchanted with the first country that captures their hearts and gives them license to be free. For Wade Davis, it was Colombia. Now in a masterly new book, Davis tells of his travels on the mighty Magdalena, the river that made possible the nation. Along the way, he finds a people who have overcome years of conflict precisely because of their character, informed by an enduring spirit of place, and a deep love of a land that is home to the greatest ecological and geographical diversity on the planet. As Gabriel García Márquez once wrote during his own pilgrimage on the river: "The only reason I would like to be young again would be the chance to travel again on a freighter going up the Magdalena." Only in Colombia can a traveler wash ashore in a coastal desert, follow waterways through wetlands as wide as the sky, ascend narrow tracks through dense tropical forests, and reach verdant Andean valleys rising to soaring ice-clad summits. This rugged and impossible geography finds its perfect coefficient in the topography of the Colombian spirit: restive, potent, at times placid and calm, in moments explosive and wild. Both a corridor of commerce and a fountain of culture, the wellspring of Colombian music, literature, poetry, and prayer, the Magdalena has served in dark times as the graveyard of the nation. And yet, always, it returns as a river of life. At once an absorbing adventure and an inspiring tale of hope and redemption, Magdalena gives us a rare, kaleidoscopic picture of a nation on the verge of a new period of peace. Braiding together memoir, history, and journalism, Wade Davis tells the story of the country's most magnificent river, and in doing so, tells the epic story of Colombia.